Bush"el (?), n. [OE. buschel, boischel, OF. boissel, bussel, boistel, F. boisseau, LL. bustellus; dim. of bustia, buxida (OF. boiste), fr. pyxida, acc. of L. pyxis box, Gr. Box.] 1. A dry measure, containing four pecks, eight gallons, or thirty-two quarts.
&hand; The Winchester bushel, formerly used in England, contained 2150.42 cubic inches, being the volume of a cylinder 18
2. A vessel of the capacity of a bushel, used in measuring; a bushel measure.
Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed, and not to be set on a candlestick?
Mark iv. 21.
3. A quantity that fills a bushel measure; as, a heap containing ten bushels of apples.
&hand; In the United States a large number of articles, bought and sold by the bushel, are measured by weighing, the number of pounds that make a bushel being determined by State law or by local custom. For some articles, as apples, potatoes, etc., heaped measure is required in measuring a bushel.
4. A large indefinite quantity. [Colloq.]
The worthies of antiquity bought the rarest pictures with bushels of gold, without counting the weight or the number of the pieces.
Dryden.
5. The iron lining in the nave of a wheel. [Eng.] In the United States it is called a box. See 4th Bush.
Bushelage
Bush"el*age (?), n. A duty payable on commodities by the bushel. [Eng.]
Bushelman
Bush"el*man (?), n. A tailor's assistant for repairing garments; -- called also busheler. [Local, U.S.]
Bushet
Bush"et (?), n. [See Bosket.] A small bush.
Bushfighter
Bush"fight`er (?), n. One accustomed to bushfighting.
Parkman.
Bushfighting
Bush"fight`ing (?), n. Fighting in the bush, or from behind bushes, trees, or thickets.
Bushhammer
Bush"ham`mer (?), n. A hammer with a head formed of a bundle of square bars, with pyramidal points, arranged in rows, or a solid head with a face cut into a number of rows of such points; -- used for dressing stone.
Bushhammer
Bush"ham`mer, v. t. To dress with bushhammer; as, to bushhammer a block of granite.
Bushiness
Bush"i*ness (?), n. The condition or quality of being bushy.
Bushing
Bush"ing, n. [See 4th Bush.] 1. The operation of fitting bushes, or linings, into holes or places where wear is to be received, or friction diminished, as pivot holes, etc.
2. (Mech.) A bush or lining; -- sometimes called . See 4th Bush.
Bushless
Bush"less (?), a. Free from bushes; bare.
O'er the long backs of the bushless downs.
Tennyson.
Bushman
Bush"man (?), n.; pl. Bushmen (#). [Cf. D. boschman, boschjesman. See 1st Bush.] 1. A woodsman; a settler in the bush.
2. (Ethnol.) One of a race of South African nomads, living principally in the deserts, and not classified as allied in race or language to any other people.
Bushment
Bush"ment (?), n. [OE. busshement ambush, fr. bush.] 1. A thicket; a cluster of bushes. [Obs.]
Raleigh.
2. An ambuscade. [Obs.]
Sir T. More.
Bushranger
Bush"ran`ger (?), n. One who roams, or hides, among the bushes; especially, in Australia, an escaped criminal living in the bush.
Bushwhacker
Bush"whack`er (?), n. 1. One accustomed to beat about, or travel through, bushes. [U.S.]
They were gallant bushwhackers, and hunters of raccoons by moonlight.
W. Irving.
2. A guerrilla; a marauding assassin; one who pretends to be a peaceful citizen, but secretly harasses a hostile force or its sympathizers. [U.S.]
Farrow.
Bushwhacking
Bush"whack`ing, n. 1. Traveling, or working a way, through bushes; pulling by the bushes, as in hauling a boat along the bushy margin of a stream. [U.S.]
T. Flint.
2. The crimes or warfare of bushwhackers. [U.S.]
Bushy
Bush"y (?), a. [From 1st Bush.] 1. Thick and spreading, like a bush. "Bushy eyebrows."
Irving.
2. Full of bushes; overgrowing with shrubs.
Dingle, or bushy dell, of this wild wood.
Milton.
Busily
Bus"i*ly (?), adv. In a busy manner.
Business
Busi"ness (?), n.; pl. Businesses (#). [From Busy.] 1. That which busies one, or that which engages the time, attention, or labor of any one, as his principal concern or interest, whether for a longer or shorter time; constant employment; regular occupation; as, the business of life; business before pleasure.
Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
Luke ii. 49.
2. Any particular occupation or employment engaged in for livelihood or gain, as agriculture, trade, art, or a profession. "The business of instruction."
Prescott.
3. Financial dealings; buying and selling; traffic in general; mercantile transactions.
It seldom happens that men of a studious turn acquire any degree of reputation for their knowledge of business.
Bp. Popteus.
4. That which one has to do or should do; special service, duty, or mission.
The daughter of the King of France,
On serious business, craving quick despatch,
Importunes personal conference.
Shak.
What business has the tortoise among the clouds?
L'Estrange.
5. Affair; concern; matter; -- used in an indefinite sense, and modified by the connected words.
It was a gentle business, and becoming
The action of good women.
Shak.
Bestow
Your needful counsel to our business.
Shak.
6. (Drama) The position, distribution, and order of persons and properties on the stage of a theater, as determined by the stage manager in rehearsal.
7. Care; anxiety; diligence. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
To do one's business, to ruin one. [Colloq.] Wycherley. -- To make (a thing) one's business, to occupy one's self with a thing as a special charge or duty. [Colloq.] -- To mean business, to be earnest. [Colloq.]
Syn. -- Affairs; concern; transaction; matter; engagement; employment; calling; occupation; trade; profession; vocation; office; duty.
Businesslike
Busi"ness*like` (?), a. In the manner of one transacting business wisely and by right methods.
Busk
Busk (?), n. [F. busc, perh. fr. the hypothetical older form of E. bois wood, because the first busks were made of wood. See Bush, and cf. OF. busche, F. b\'96che, a piece or log of wood, fr. the same root.] A thin, elastic strip of metal, whalebone, wood, or other material, worn in the front of a corset.
Her long slit sleeves, stiff busk, puff verdingall,
Is all that makes her thus angelical.
Marston.
Busk
Busk, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Busked (#).] [OE. busken, fr. Icel. b to make one's self ready, rexlexive of b to prepare, dwell. Cf. 8th Bound.] 1. To prepare; to make ready; to array; to dress. [Scot. & Old Eng.]
Busk you, busk you, my bonny, bonny bride.
Hamilton.
2. To go; to direct one's course. [Obs.]
Ye might have busked you to Huntly banks.
Skelton.
Busked
Busked (?), a. Wearing a busk.
Pollok.
Busket
Bus"ket (?), n. [See Bosket, Bouquet.] 1. A small bush; also, a sprig or bouquet. [Obs.]
Spenser.
2. A part of a garden devoted to shrubs. [R.]
Buskin
Bus"kin (?), n. [Prob. from OF. brossequin, or D. broosken. See Brodekin.] 1. A strong, protecting covering for the foot, coming some distance up the leg.
The hunted red deer's undressed hide
Their hairy buskins well supplied.
Sir W. Scott.
2. A similar covering for the foot and leg, made with very thick soles, to give an appearance of elevation to the stature; -- worn by tragic actors in ancient Greece and Rome. Used as a symbol of tragedy, or the tragic drama, as distinguished from comedy.
Great Fletcher never treads in buskins here,
No greater Jonson dares in socks appear.
Dryden.
Buskined
Bus"kined (?), a. 1. Wearing buskins.
Her buskined virgins traced the dewy lawn.
Pope.
2. Trodden by buskins; pertaining to tragedy. "The buskined stage."
Milton.
Busky
Bus"ky (?), a. See Bosky, and 1st Bush, n.
Shak.
Buss
Buss (?), n. [OE. basse, fr. L. basium; cf. G. bus (Luther), Prov. G. busserl, dim. of bus kiss, bussen to kiss, Sw. puss kiss, pussa to kiss, W. & Gael. bus lip, mouth.] A kiss; a rude or playful kiss; a smack.
Shak.
Page 196
Buss
Buss (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bussed (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Bussing.] To kiss; esp. to kiss with a smack, or rudely. "Nor bussed the milking maid."
Tennyson.
Kissing and bussing differ both in this,
We buss our wantons, but our wives we kiss.
Herrick.
Buss
Buss, n. [Cf. OF. busse, Pr. bus, LL. bussa, busa, G. b\'81se, D. buis.] (Naut.) A small strong vessel with two masts and two cabins; -- used in the herring fishery.
The Dutch whalers and herring busses.
Macaulay.
Bust
Bust (?), n. [F. buste, fr. It. busto; cf. LL. busta, bustula, box, of the same origin as E. box a case; cf., for the change of meaning, E. chest. See Bushel.] 1. A piece of sculpture representing the upper part of the human figure, including the head, shoulders, and breast.
Ambition sighed: she found it vain to trust
The faithless column, and the crumbling bust.
Pope.
2. The portion of the human figure included between the head and waist, whether in statuary or in the person; the chest or thorax; the upper part of the trunk of the body.
Bustard
Bus"tard (?), n. [OF. & Prov. F. bistarde, F. outarde, from L. avis tarda, lit., slow bird. Plin. 10, 22; "proxim\'91 iis sunt, quas Hispania aves tardas appellat, Gr\'91cia (Zo\'94l.) A bird of the genus Otis.
&hand; The great or bearded bustard (Otis tarda) is the largest game bird in Europe. It inhabits the temperate regions of Europe and Asia, and was formerly common in Great Britain. The little bustard (O. tetrax) inhabits eastern Europe and Morocco. Many other species are known in Asia and Africa.
Buster
Bus"ter (?), n. Something huge; a roistering blade; also, a spree. [Slang, U.S.]
Bartlett.
Bustle
Bus"tle (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Bustled (p. pr. & vb.n. Bustling ( [Cf. OE. buskle, perh. fr. AS. bysig busy, bysg-ian to busy + the verbal termination -le; or Icel. bustla to splash, bustle.] To move noisily; to be rudely active; to move in a way to cause agitation or disturbance; as, to bustle through a crowd.
And leave the world for me to bustle in.
Shak.
Bustle
Bus"tle, n. Great stir; agitation; tumult from stirring or excitement.
A strange bustle and disturbance in the world.
South.
Bustle
Bus"tle, n. A kind of pad or cushion worn on the back below the waist, by women, to give fullness to the skirts; -- called also bishop, and tournure.
<-- out of fashion by the 1900's -->
Bustler
Bus"tler (?), n. An active, stirring person.
Bustling
Bus"tling (?), a. Agitated; noisy; tumultuous; characterized by confused activity; as, a bustling crowd. "A bustling wharf."
Hawthorne.
Busto
Bus"to (?), n.; pl. Bustoes (/plu. [It.] A bust; a statue.
With some antick bustoes in the niches.
Ashmole.
Busy
Bus"y (?), a. [OE. busi, bisi, AS. bysig; akin to D. bezig, LG. besig; cf. Skr. bh to be active, busy.] 1. Engaged in some business; hard at work (either habitually or only for the time being); occupied with serious affairs; not idle nor at leisure; as, a busy merchant.
Sir, my mistress sends you word
THat she is busy, and she can not come.
Shak.
2. Constantly at work; diligent; active.
Busy hammers closing rivets up.
Shak.
Religious motives . . . are so busy in the heart.
Addison.
3. Crowded with business or activities; -- said of places and times; as, a busy street.
To-morrow is a busy day.
Shak.
4. Officious; meddling; foolish active.
On meddling monkey, or on busy ape.
Shak.
5. Careful; anxious. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Syn. -- Diligent; industrious; assiduous; active; occupied; engaged.
Busy
Bus"y (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Busied (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Busying.] [AS. bysgian.] To make or keep busy; to employ; to engage or keep engaged; to occupy; as, to busy one's self with books.
Be it thy course to busy giddy minds
With foreign quarrels.
Shak.
Busybody
Bus"y*bod`y (?), n.; pl. Busybodies (#). One who officiously concerns himself with the affairs of others; a meddling person.
And not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.
1 Tim. v. 13.
But
But (?), prep., adv. & conj. [OE. bute, buten, AS. b, without, on the outside, except, besides; pref. be- + outward, without, fr. out. Primarily, b, as well as , is an adverb. &root;198. See By, Out; cf. About.] 1. Except with; unless with; without. [Obs.]
So insolent that he could not go but either spurning equals or trampling on his inferiors.
Fuller.
Touch not the cat but a glove.
Motto of the Mackintoshes.
2. Except; besides; save.
Who can it be, ye gods! but perjured Lycon?
E. Smith.
&hand; In this sense, but is often used with other particles; as, but for, without, had it not been for. "Uncreated but for love divine."
Young.
3. Excepting or excluding the fact that; save that; were it not that; unless; -- elliptical, for but that.
And but my noble Moor is true of mind . . . it were enough to put him to ill thinking.
Shak.
4. Otherwise than that; that not; -- commonly, after a negative, with that.
It cannot be but nature hath some director, of infinite power, to guide her in all her ways.
Hooker.
There is no question but the king of Spain will reform most of the abuses.
Addison.
5. Only; solely; merely.
Observe but how their own principles combat one another.
Milton.
If they kill us, we shall but die.
2 Kings vii. 4.
A formidable man but to his friends.
Dryden.
6. On the contrary; on the other hand; only; yet; still; however; nevertheless; more; further; -- as connective of sentences or clauses of a sentence, in a sense more or less exceptive or adversative; as, the House of Representatives passed the bill, but the Senate dissented; our wants are many, but quite of another kind.
Now abideth faith hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
1 Cor. xiii. 13.
When pride cometh, then cometh shame; but with the lowly is wisdom.
Prov. xi. 2.
All but. See under All. -- But and if, but if; an attempt on the part of King James's translators of the Bible to express the conjunctive and adversative force of the Greek
But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; . . . the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him.
Luke xii. 45, 46.
But if, unless. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
But this I read, that but if remedy
Thou her afford, full shortly I her dead shall see.
Spenser.
Syn. -- But, However, Still. These conjunctions mark opposition in passing from one thought or topic to another. But marks the opposition with a medium degree of strength; as, this is not winter, but it is almost as cold; he requested my assistance, but I shall not aid him at present. However is weaker, and throws the opposition (as it were) into the background; as, this is not winter; it is, however, almost as cold; he required my assistance; at present, however, I shall not afford him aid. The plan, however, is still under consideration, and may yet be adopted. Still is stronger than but, and marks the opposition more emphatically; as, your arguments are weighty; still they do not convince me. See Except, However.
&hand; "The chief error with but is to use it where and is enough; an error springing from the tendency to use strong words without sufficient occasio,."
Bain.
But
But (?), n. [Cf. But, prep., adv. & conj.] The outer apartment or kitchen of a two-roomed house; -- opposed to ben, the inner room. [Scot.]
But
But, n. [See 1st But.] 1. A limit; a boundary.
2. The end; esp. the larger or thicker end, or the blunt, in distinction from the sharp, end. See 1st Butt.
But end, the larger or thicker end; as, the but end of a log; the but end of a musket. See Butt, n.
But
But, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Butted; p. pr. & vb. n. Butting.] See Butt, v., and Abut, v.
Butane
Bu"tane (?), n. [L. butyrum butter. See Butter.] (Chem.) An inflammable gaseous hydrocarbon, C4H10, of the marsh gas, or paraffin, series.
Butcher
Butch"er (?), n. [OE. bochere, bochier, OF. bochier, F. boucher, orig., slaughterer of buck goats, fr. OF. boc, F. bouc, a buck goat; of German or Celtic origin. See Buck the animal.] 1. One who slaughters animals, or dresses their flesh for market; one whose occupation it is to kill animals for food.
2. A slaughterer; one who kills in large numbers, or with unusual cruelty; one who causes needless loss of life, as in battle. "Butcher of an innocent child."
Shak.
Butcher bird (Zo\'94l.), a species of shrike of the genus Lanius.
&hand; The Lanius excubitor is the common butcher bird of Europe. In England, the bearded tit is sometimes called the lesser butcher bird. The American species are L.borealis, or northernbutcher bird, and L. Ludovicianus or loggerhead shrike. The name butcher birdis derived from its habit of suspending its prey impaled upon thorns, after killing it.
Butcher's meat, such flesh of animals slaughtered for food as is sold for that purpose by butchers, as beef, mutton, lamb, and pork.
Butcher
Butch"er, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Butchered (; p. pr. & vb.n. Butchering.] 1. To kill or slaughter (animals) for food, or for market; as, to butcher hogs.
2. To murder, or kill, especially in an unusually bloody or barbarous manner.
Macaulay.
[Ithocles] was murdered, rather butchered.
Ford.
Butchering
Butch"er*ing, n. 1. The business of a butcher.
2. The act of slaughtering; the act of killing cruelly and needlessly.
That dreadful butchering of one another.
Addison.
Butcherliness
Butch"er*li*ness (?), n. Butchery quality.
Butcherly
Butch"er*ly, a. Like a butcher; without compunction; savage; bloody; inhuman; fell. "The victim of a butcherly murder."
D. Webster.
What stratagems, how fell, how butcherly,
This deadly quarrel daily doth beget!
Shak.
Butcher's broom
Butch"er's broom` (?). (Bot.) A genus of plants (Ruscus); esp. R. aculeatus, which has large red berries and leaflike branches. See Cladophyll.
Butchery
Butch"er*y (?), n. [OE. bocherie shambles, fr. F. boucherie. See Butcher, n.] 1. The business of a butcher. [Obs.]
2. Murder or manslaughter, esp. when committed with unusual barbarity; great or cruel slaughter.
Shak.
The perpetration of human butchery.
Prescott.
3. A slaughterhouse; the shambles; a place where blood is shed. [Obs.]
Like as an ox is hanged in the butchery.
Fabyan.
Syn. -- Murder; slaughter; carnage. See Massacre.
Butler
But"ler (?), n. [OE. boteler, F. bouteillier a bottle-bearer, a cupbearer, fr. LL. buticularius, fr. buticula bottle. See Bottle a hollow vessel.] An officer in a king's or a nobleman's household, whose principal business it is to take charge of the liquors, plate, etc.; the head servant in a large house.
The butler and the baker of the king of Egypt.
Gen. xl. 5.
Your wine locked up, your butler strolled abroad.
Pope.
Butlerage
But"ler*age (?), n. (O. Eng. Law) A duty of two shillings on every tun of wine imported into England by merchant strangers; -- so called because paid to the king's butler for the king.
Blackstone.
Butlership
But"ler*ship, n. The office of a butler.
Butment
But"ment (?), n. [Abbreviation of Abutment.] 1. (Arch.) A buttress of an arch; the supporter, or that part which joins it to the upright pier.
2. (Masonry) The mass of stone or solid work at the end of a bridge, by which the extreme arches are sustained, or by which the end of a bridge without arches is supported.
Butment cheek (Carp.), the part of a mortised timber surrounding the mortise, and against which the shoulders of the tenon bear.
Knight.
Butt, But
Butt, But (?), n. [F. but butt, aim (cf. butte knoll), or bout, OF. bot, end, extremity, fr. boter, buter, to push, butt, strike, F. bouter; of German origin; cf. OHG. b\'d3zan, akin to E. beat. See Beat, v. t.] 1. A limit; a bound; a goal; the extreme bound; the end.
Here is my journey's end, here my butt
And very sea mark of my utmost sail.
Shak.
&hand; As applied to land, the word is nearly synonymous with mete, and signifies properly the end line or boundary; the abuttal.
2. The thicker end of anything. See But.
3. A mark to be shot at; a target.
Sir W. Scott.
The groom his fellow groom at butts defies,
And bends his bow, and levels with his eyes.
Dryden.
4. A person at whom ridicule, jest, or contempt is directed; as, the butt of the company.
I played a sentence or two at my butt, which I thought very smart.
Addison.
5. A push, thrust, or sudden blow, given by the head of an animal; as, the butt of a ram.
6. A thrust in fencing.
To prove who gave the fairer butt,
John shows the chalk on Robert's coat.
Prior.
7. A piece of land left unplowed at the end of a field.
The hay was growing upon headlands and butts in cornfields.
Burrill.
8. (Mech.) (a) A joint where the ends of two objects come squarely together without scrafing or chamfering; -- also called butt joint. (b) The end of a connecting rod or other like piece, to which the boxing is attached by the strap, cotter, and gib. (c) The portion of a half-coupling fastened to the end of a hose.
9. (Shipbuilding) The joint where two planks in a strake meet.
10. (Carp.) A kind of hinge used in hanging doors, etc.; -- so named because fastened on the edge of the door, which butts against the casing, instead of on its face, like the strap hinge; also called butt hinge.
11. (Leather Trade) The thickest and stoutest part of tanned oxhides, used for soles of boots, harness, trunks.
12. The hut or shelter of the person who attends to the targets in rifle practice.
Butt chain (Saddlery), a short chain attached to the end of a tug. -- Butt end. The thicker end of anything. See But end, under 2d But.
Amen; and make me die a good old man!
That's the butt end of a mother's blessing.
Shak.
A butt's length, the ordinary distance from the place of shooting to the butt, or mark. -- Butts and bounds (Conveyancing), abuttals and boundaries. In lands of the ordinary rectangular shape, butts are the lines at the ends (F. bouts), and bounds are those on the sides, or sidings, as they were formerly termed. Burrill. -- Bead and butt. See under Bead. -- Butt and butt, joining end to end without overlapping, as planks. -- Butt weld (Mech.), a butt joint, made by welding together the flat ends, or edges, of a piece of iron or steel, or of separate pieces, without having them overlap. See Weld. -- Full butt, headfirst with full force. [Colloq.] "The corporal . . . ran full butt at the lieutenant." Marryat.
Butt
Butt, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Butted; p. pr. & vb. n. Butting.] [OE. butten, OF. boter to push, F. bouter. See Butt an end, and cf. Boutade.] 1. To join at the butt, end, or outward extremity; to terminate; to be bounded; to abut. [Written also but.]
And Barnsdale there doth butt on Don's well-watered ground.
Drayton.
2. To thrust the head forward; to strike by thrusting the head forward, as an ox or a ram. [See Butt, n.]
A snow-white steer before thine altar led,
Butts with his threatening brows.
Dryden.
Butt
Butt, v. t. To strike by thrusting the head against; to strike with the head.
Two harmless lambs are butting one the other.
Sir H. Wotton.
Butt
Butt, n. [F. botte, boute, LL. butta. Cf. Bottle a hollow vessel.] A large cask or vessel for wine or beer. It contains two hogsheads.
&hand; A wine butt contains 126 wine gallons (= 105 imperial gallons, nearly); a beer butt 108 ale gallons (= about 110 imperial gallons).
Butt
Butt, n. (Zo\'94l.) The common English flounder.
Butte
Butte (?), n. [F. See Butt a bound.] A detached low mountain, or high rising abruptly from the general level of the surrounding plain; -- applied to peculiar elevations in the Rocky Mountain region.
The creek . . . passes by two remarkable buttes of red conglomerate.
Ruxton.
Page 197
Butter
But"ter (?), n. [OE. botere, butter, AS. butere, fr. L. butyrum, Gr. Cow.] 1. An oily, unctuous substance obtained from cream or milk by churning.
2. Any substance resembling butter in degree of consistence, or other qualities, especially, in old chemistry, the chloridess, as butter of antimony, sesquichloride of antimony; also, certain concrete fat oils remaining nearly solid at ordinary temperatures, as butter of cacao, vegetable butter, shea butter.
Butter and eggs (Bot.), a name given to several plants having flowers of two shades of yellow, as Narcissus incomparabilis, and in the United States to the toadflax (Linaria vulgaris). -- Butter boat, a small vessel for holding melted butter at table. -- Butter flower, the buttercup, a yellow flower. -- Butter print, a piece of carved wood used to mark pats of butter; -- called also butter stamp. Locke. -- Butter tooth, either of the two middle incisors of the upper jaw. -- Butter tree (Bot.), a tree of the genus Bassia, the seeds of which yield a substance closely resembling butter. The butter tree of India is the B. butyracea; that of Africa is the Shea tree (B. Parkii). See Shea tree. -- Butter trier, a tool used in sampling butter. -- Butter wife, a woman who makes or sells butter; -- called also butter woman. [Obs. or Archaic]
Butter
But"ter, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Buttered (p. pr. & vb. n. Buttering.] 1. To cover or spread with butter.
I know what's what. I know on which side
My bread is buttered.
Ford.
2. To increase, as stakes, at every throw or every game. [Cant]
Johnson.
Butter
Butt"er (?), n. One who, or that which, butts.
Butterball
But"ter*ball` (?), n. (Zo\'94l.) The buffel duck.
Butterbird
But"ter*bird` (?), n. (Zo\'94l.) The rice bunting or bobolink; -- so called in the island of Jamaica.
Butterbump
But"ter*bump` (?), n. [OE. buttur the bittern + 5th bump.] (Zo\'94l.) The European bittern.
Johnson.
Butterbur
But"ter*bur` (?), n. (Bot.) A broad-leaved plant (Petasites vulgaris) of the Composite family, said to have been used in England for wrapping up pats of butter.
Buttercup
But"ter*cup` (?), n. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Ranunculus, or crowfoot, particularly R. bulbosus, with bright yellow flowers; -- called also butterflower, golden cup, and kingcup. It is the cuckoobud of Shakespeare.
Butter-fingered
But"ter-fin`gered (?), a. Apt to let things fall, or to let them slip away; slippery; careless.
Butterfish
But"ter*fish` (?), n. (Zo\'94l.) A name given to several different fishes, in allusion to their slippery coating of mucus, as the Stromateus triacanthus of the Atlantic coast, the Epinephelus punctatus of the southern coast, the rock eel, and the kelpfish of New Zealand.
Butterfly
But"ter*fly` (?), n.; pl. Butterflies (#). [Perh. from the color of a yellow species. AS. buter-fl\'c7ge, buttor-fle\'a2ge; cf. G. butterfliege, D. botervlieg. See Butter, and Fly.] (Zo\'94l.) A general name for the numerous species of diurnal Lepidoptera. [See Illust. under Aphrodite.]
Asclepias butterfly. See under Asclepias. -- Butterfly fish (Zo\'94l.), the ocellated blenny (Blennius ocellaris) of Europe. See Blenny. The term is also applied to the flying gurnard. -- Butterfly shell (Zo\'94l.), a shell of the genus Voluta. -- Butterfly valve (Mech.), a kind of double clack valve, consisting of two semicircular clappers or wings hinged to a cross rib in the pump bucket. When open it somewhat resembles a butterfly in shape.
Butterine
But"ter*ine (?), n. A substance prepared from animal fat with some other ingredients intermixed, as an imitation of butter.
The manufacturers ship large quantities of oleomargarine to England, Holland, and other countries, to be manufactured into butter, which is sold as butterine or suine.
Johnson's Cyc.
Butteris
But"ter*is (?), n. [The same word as buttress, noun, in a different application, F. bouter to push.] (Far.) A steel cutting instrument, with a long bent shank set in a handle which rests against the shoulder of the operator. It is operated by a thrust movement, and used in paring the hoofs of horses.
Butterman
But"ter*man` (?), n.; pl. Buttermen (. A man who makes or sells butter.
Buttermilk
But"ter*milk` (?), n. The milk that remains after the butter is separated from the cream.
Butternut
But"ter*nut` (?), n. 1. (Bot.) An American tree (Juglans cinerea) of the Walnut family, and its edible fruit; -- so called from the oil contained in the latter. Sometimes called oil nut and white walnut.
2. (Bot.) The nut of the Caryocar butyrosum and C. nuciferum, of S. America; -- called also Souari nut.
Butter-scotch
But"ter-scotch` (?), n. A kind of candy, mainly composed of sugar and butter. [Colloq.]
Dickens.
Butterweed
But"ter*weed` (?), n. (Bot.) An annual composite plant of the Mississippi valley (Senecio lobatus).
Butterweight
But"ter*weight` (?), n. Over weight.
Swift.
&hand; Formerly it was a custom to give 18 ounces of butter for a pound.
Butterwort
But"ter*wort` (?), n. (Bot.) A genus of low herbs (Pinguicula) having simple leaves which secrete from their glandular upper surface a viscid fluid, to which insects adhere, after which the margin infolds and the insects are digested by the plant. The species are found mostly in the North Temperate zone.
Buttery
But"ter*y (?), a. Having the qualities, consistence, or appearance, of butter.
Buttery
But"ter*y, n.; pl. Buttplwies (. [OE. botery, botry; cf. LL. botaria wine vessel; also OE. botelerie, fr. F. bouteillerie, fr. boutellie bottle. Not derived from butter. See Bottle a hollow vessel, Butt a cask.] 1. An apartment in a house where butter, milk and other provisions are kept.
All that need a cool and fresh temper, as cellars, pantries, and butteries, to the north.
Sir H. Wotton.
2. A room in some English colleges where liquors, fruit, and refreshments are kept for sale to the students.
And the major Oxford kept the buttery bar.
E. Hall.
3. A cellar in which butts of wine are kept.
Weale.
Buttery hatch, a half door between the buttery or kitchen and the hall, in old mansions, over which provisions were passed.
Wright.
Butt hinge
Butt" hinge` (?). See 1st Butt, 10.
But-thorn
But"-thorn` (?), n. (Zo\'94l.) The common European starfish (Asterias rubens).
Butting
But"ting (?), n. An abuttal; a boundary.
Without buttings or boundings on any side.
Bp. Beveridge.
Butting joint
But"ting joint`. A joint between two pieces of timber or wood, at the end of one or both, and either at right angles or oblique to the grain, as the joints which the struts and braces form with the truss posts; -- sometimes called abutting joint.
Butt joint
Butt" joint` (?). A joint in which the edges or ends of the pieces united come squarely together instead of overlapping. See 1st Butt, 8.
Buttock
But"tock (?), n. [From Butt an end.] 1. The part at the back of the hip, which, in man, forms one of the rounded protuberances on which he sits; the rump.
2. (Naut.) The convexity of a ship behind, under the stern.
Mar. Dict.
Button
But"ton (?), n. [OE. boton, botoun, F. bouton button, bud, prop. something pushing out, fr. bouter to push. See Butt an end.] 1. A knob; a small ball; a small, roundish mass.
2. A catch, of various forms and materials, used to fasten together the different parts of dress, by being attached to one part, and passing through a slit, called a buttonhole, in the other; -- used also for ornament.
3. A bud; a germ of a plant.
Shak.
4. A piece of wood or metal, usually flat and elongated, turning on a nail or screw, to fasten something, as a door.
5. A globule of metal remaining onan assay cupel or in a crucible, after fusion.
Button hook, a hook for catching a button and drawing it through a buttonhole, as in buttoning boots and gloves. -- Button shell (Zo\'94l.), a small, univalve marine shell of the genus Rotella. -- Button snakeroot. (Bot.) (a) The American composite genus Liatris, having rounded buttonlike heads of flowers. (b) An American umbelliferous plant with rigid, narrow leaves, and flowers in dense heads. -- Button tree (Bot.), a genus of trees (Conocarpus), furnishing durable timber, mostly natives of the West Indies. -- To hold by the button, to detain in conversation to weariness; to bore; to buttonhole.
Button
But"ton, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Buttoned (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Buttoning (#).] [OE. botonen, OF. botoner, F. boutonner. See Button, n.] 1. To fasten with a button or buttons; to inclose or make secure with buttons; -- often followed by up.
He was a tall, fat, long-bodied man, buttoned up to the throat in a tight green coat.
Dickens.
2. To dress or clothe. [Obs.]
Shak.
Button
But"ton, v. i. To be fastened by a button or buttons; as, the coat will not button.
Buttonball
But"ton*ball` (?), n. (Bot.) See Buttonwood.
Buttonbush
But"ton*bush` (?), n. (Bot.) A shrub (Cephalanthus occidentalis) growing by the waterside; -- so called from its globular head of flowers. See Capitulum.
Buttonhole
But"ton*hole` (?), n. The hole or loop in which a button is caught.
Buttonhole
But"ton*hole`, v. t. To hold at the button or buttonhole; to detain in conversation to weariness; to bore; as, he buttonholed me a quarter of an hour.
Buttonmold
But"ton*mold` (?), n. A disk of bone, wood, or other material, which is made into a button by covering it with cloth. [Written also buttonmould.]
Fossil buttonmolds, joints of encrinites. See Encrinite.
Buttons
But"tons (?), n. A boy servant, or page, -- in allusion to the buttons on his livry. [Colloq.]
Dickens.
Buttonweed
But"ton*weed` (?), n. (Bot.) The name of several plants of the genera Spermacoce and Diodia, of the Madder family.
Buttonwood
But"ton*wood` (?), n. (Bot.) The Platanus occidentalis, or American plane tree, a large tree, producing rough balls, from which it is named; -- called also buttonball tree, and, in some parts of the United States, sycamore. The California buttonwood is P. racemosa.
Buttony
But"ton*y (?), a. Ornamented with a large number of buttons. "The buttony boy." Thackeray. "My coat so blue and buttony."
W. S. Gilbert.
Buttress
But"tress (?), n. [OE. butrasse, boterace, fr. F. bouter to push; cf. OF. bouteret (nom. sing. and acc. pl. bouterez) buttress. See Butt an end, and cf. Butteris.] 1. (Arch.) A projecting mass of masonry, used for resisting the thrust of an arch, or for ornament and symmetry.
&hand; When an external projection is used merely to stiffen a wall, it is a pier.
2. Anything which supports or strengthens. "The ground pillar and buttress of the good old cause of nonconformity."
South.
Flying buttress. See Flying buttress.
Buttress
But"tress (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Buttressed (p. pr. & vb. n. Buttressing.] To support with a buttress; to prop; to brace firmly.
To set it upright again, and to prop and buttress it up for duration.
Burke.
Butt shaft
Butt" shaft` (?) An arrow without a barb, for shooting at butts; an arrow. [Also but shaft.]
Shak.
Butt weld
Butt" weld` (?). See Butt weld, under Butt.
Buttweld
Butt"weld`, v. t. To unite by a butt weld.
Butty
But"ty (?), n. (Mining) One who mines by contract, at so much per ton of coal or ore.
Butyl
Bu"tyl (?), n. [L. butyrum butter + -yl. See Butter.] (Chem.) A compound radical, regarded as butane, less one atom of hydrogen.
Butylene
Bu"ty*lene (?), n. [From Butyl.] (Chem.) Any one of three metameric hydrocarbons, C4H8, of the ethylene series. They are gaseous or easily liquefiable.
Butyraceous
Bu`ty*ra"ceous (?), a. [L. butyrum butter. See Butter.] Having the qualities of butter; resembling butter.
Butyrate
Bu"ty*rate (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of butyric acid.
Butyric
Bu*tyr"ic (?), a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or derived from, butter.
Butyric acid, C3H7.CO2H, an acid found in butter; an oily, limpid fluid, having the smell of rancid butter, and an acrid taste, with a sweetish aftertaste, like that of ether. There are two metameric butyric acids, called in distinction the normal- and iso-butyric acid. The normal butyric acid is the one common in rancid butter.
Butyrin
Bu"ty*rin (?), n. (Physiol. Chem.) A butyrate of glycerin; a fat contained in small quantity in milk, which helps to give to butter its peculiar flavor.
Butyrometer
Bu`ty*rom"e*ter (?), n. [L. butyrum butter + -meter.] An instrument for determining the amount of fatty matter or butter contained in a sample of milk.
Butyrone
Bu"ty*rone (?), n. [Butyric + -one.] (Chem.) A liquid ketone obtained by heating calcium butyrate.
Butyrous
Bu"ty*rous (?), a. Butyraceous.
Buxeous
Bux"e*ous (?), a. [L. buxeus, fr. buxus the box tree.] Belonging to the box tree.
Buxine
Bux"ine (?), n. (Chem.) An alkaloid obtained from the Buxus sempervirens, or common box tree. It is identical with bebeerine; -- called also buxina.
Buxom
Bux"om (?), a. [OE. buxum, boxom, buhsum, pliable, obedient, AS. b\'d3csum, b\'d4hsum (akin to D. buigzaam blexible, G. biegsam); b\'d4gan to bow, bend + -sum, E. -some. See Bow to bend, and -some.] 1. Yielding; pliable or compliant; ready to obey; obedient; tractable; docile; meek; humble. [Obs.]
So wild a beast, so tame ytaught to be,
And buxom to his bands, is joy to see.
Spenser.
I submit myself unto this holy church of Christ, to be ever buxom and obedient to the ordinance of it.
Foxe.
2. Having the characteristics of health, vigor, and comeliness, combined with a gay, lively manner; stout and rosy; jolly; frolicsome.
A daughter fair,
So buxom, blithe, and debonair.
Milton.
A parcel of buxom bonny dames, that were laughing, singing, dancing, and as merry as the day was long.
Tatler.
-- Bux"om*ly, adv. -- Bux"om*ness, n.
Buy
Buy (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bought (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Buying (#).] [OE. buggen, buggen, bien, AS. bycgan, akin to OS. buggean, Goth. bugjan.] 1. To acquire the ownership of (property) by giving an accepted price or consideration therefor, or by agreeing to do so; to acquire by the payment of a price or value; to purchase; -- opposed to sell.
Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou wilt sell thy necessaries.
B. Franklin.
2. To acquire or procure by something given or done in exchange, literally or figuratively; to get, at a cost or sacrifice; to buy pleasure with pain.
Buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Prov. xxiii. 23.
To buy again. See Againbuy. [Obs.] Chaucer. -- To buy off. (a) To influence to compliance; to cause to bend or yield by some consideration; as, to buy off conscience. (b) To detach by a consideration given; as, to buy off one from a party. -- To buy out (a) To buy off, or detach from. Shak. (b) To purchase the share or shares of in a stock, fund, or partnership, by which the seller is separated from the company, and the purchaser takes his place; as, A buys out B. (c) To purchase the entire stock in trade and the good will of a business. -- To buy in, to purchase stock in any fund or partnership. -- To buy on credit, to purchase, on a promise, in fact or in law, to make payment at a future day. -- To buy the refusal (of anything), to give a consideration for the right of purchasing, at a fixed price, at a future time.
Buy
Buy, v. i. To negotiate or treat about a purchase.
I will buy with you, sell with you.
Shak.
Buyer
Buy"er (?), n. One who buys; a purchaser.
Buz
Buz (?), v. & n. See Buzz. [Obs.]
Buzz
Buzz (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Buzzed (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Buzzing.] [An onomatop\'d2ia.] To make a low, continuous, humming or sibilant sound, like that made by bees with their wings. Hence: To utter a murmuring sound; to speak with a low, humming voice.
Like a wasp is buzzed, and stung him.
Longfellow.
However these disturbers of our peace
Buzz in the people's ears.
Shak.
Buzz
Buzz, v. t. 1. To sound forth by buzzing.
Shak.
2. To whisper; to communicate, as tales, in an under tone; to spread, as report, by whispers, or secretly.
I will buzz abroad such prophecies
That Edward shall be fearful of his life.
Shak.
3. To talk to incessantly or confidentially in a low humming voice. [Colloq.]
4. (Phonetics) To sound with a "buzz".
H. Sweet.
Buzz
Buzz, n. 1. A continuous, humming noise, as of bees; a confused murmur, as of general conversation in low tones, or of a general expression of surprise or approbation. "The constant buzz of a fly."
Macaulay.
Page 198
I found the whole room in a buzz of politics.
Addison.
There is a buzz all around regarding the sermon.
Thackeray.
2. A whisper; a report spread secretly or cautiously.
There's a certain buzz
Of a stolen marriage.
Massinger.
3. (Phonetics) The audible friction of voice consonants.
H. Sweet.
Buzzard
Buz"zard (?), n.[O.E. busard, bosard, F. busard, fr. buse, L. buteo, a kind of falcon or hawk.]
1. (Zo\'94l.) A bird of prey of the Hawk family, belonging to the genus Buteo and related genera.
&hand; The Buteo vulgaris is the common buzzard of Europe. The American species (of which the most common are B. borealis, B. Pennsylvanicus, and B. lineatus) are usually called hen hawks. -- The rough-legged buzzard, or bee hawk, of Europe (Pernis apivorus) feeds on bees and their larv\'91, with other insects, and reptiles. -- The moor buzzard of Europe is Circus \'91ruginosus. See Turkey buzzard, and Carrion buzzard.
Bald buzzard, the fishhawk or osprey. See Fishhawk.
2. A blockhead; a dunce.
It is common, to a proverb, to call one who can not be taught, or who continues obstinately ignorant, a buzzard.
Goldsmith.
Buzzard
Buz"zard, a. Senseless; stupid. [R.& Obs.]
Milton.
Buzzardet
Buz"zard*et` (?), n. (Zo\'94l.) A hawk resembling the buzzard, but with legs relatively longer.
Buzzer
Buzz"er (?), n. One who, or that which, buzzes; a whisperer; a talebearer.
And wants not buzzers to infect his ear
With pestilent speeches of his father's death.
Shak.
Buzzingly
Buzz"ing*ly (?), adv. In a buzzing manner; with a buzzing sound.
Buzzsaw
Buzz"saw` (?) A circular saw; -- so called from the buzzing it makes when running at full speed.
By
By (?), prep. [OE. bi, AS. b\'c6, big, near to, by, of, from, after, according to; akin to OS.& OFries. bi, be, D. bij, OHG. b\'c6, G. bie, Goth. bi, and perh. Gr.. E. prefix be- is orig.the same word. pref. Be-.]
1. In the neighborhood of; near or next to; not far from; close to; along with; as, come and sit by me.
By foundation or by shady rivulet
He sought them both.
Milton.
2. On; along; in traversing. Compare 5.
Long labors both by sea and land he bore.
Dryden.
By land, by water, they renew the charge.
Pope.
3. Near to, while passing; hence, from one to the other side of; past; as, to go by a church.
4. Used in specifying adjacent dimensions; as, a cabin twenty feet by forty.
5. Against. [Obs.]
Tyndale [1. Cor. iv. 4].
6. With, as means, way, process, etc.; through means of; with aid of; through; through the act or agency of; as, a city is destroyed by fire; profit is made by commerce; to take by force.
To the meaning of by, as denoting means or agency, belong, more or less closely, most of the following uses of the word: (a) It points out the author and producer; as, "Waverley", a novel by Sir W.Scott; a statue by Canova; a sonata by Beethoven. (b) In an oath or adjuration, it indicates the being or thing appealed to as sanction; as, I affirm to you by all that is sacred; he swears by his faith as a Christian; no, by Heaven. (c) According to; by direction, authority, or example of; after; -- in such phrases as, it appears by his account; ten o'clock by my watch; to live by rule; a model to build by. (d) At the rate of; according to the ratio or proportion of; in the measure or quantity of; as, to sell cloth by the yard, milk by the quart, eggs by the dozen, meat by the pound; to board by the year. (e) In comparison, it denotes the measure of excess or deficiency; when anything is increased or diminished, it indicates the measure of increase or diminution; as, larger by a half; older by five years; to lessen by a third. (f) It expresses continuance or duration; during the course of; within the period of; as, by day, by night. (g) As soon as; not later than; near or at; -- used in expressions of time; as, by this time the sun had risen; he will be here by two o'clock.
In boxing the compass, by indicates a pint nearer to, or towards, the next cardinal point; as, north by east, i.e., a point towards the east from the north; northeast by east, i.e., on point nearer the east than northeast is.
&hand; With is used instead of by before the instrument with which anything is done; as, to beat one with a stick; the board was fastened by the carpenter with nails. But there are many words which may be regarded as means or processes, or, figuratively, as instruments; and whether with or by shall be used with them is a matter of arbitrary, and often, of unsettled usage; as, to a reduce a town by famine; to consume stubble with fire; he gained his purpose by flattery; he entertained them with a story; he distressed us with or by a recital of his sufferings. see With.
By all means, most assuredly; without fail; certainly. -- By and by. (a) Close together (of place). [Obs.] "Two yonge knightes liggyng [lying] by and by." Chaucer. (b) Immediately; at once. [Obs.] "When . . . persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended." Matt. xiii. 21. (c) Presently; pretty soon; before long. In this phrase, by seems to be used in the sense of nearness in time, and to be repeated for the sake of emphasis, and thus to be equivalent to "soon, and soon," that is instantly; hence, -- less emphatically, -- pretty soon, presently. -- By one's self, with only one's self near; alone; solitary.- By the bye. See under Bye. -- By the head (Naut.), having the bows lower than the stern; -- said of a vessel when her head is lower in the water than her stern. If her stern is lower, she is by the stern. -- By the lee, the situation of a vessel, going free, when she has fallen off so much as to bring the wind round her stern, and to take her sails aback on the other side. -- By the run, to let go by the run, to let go altogether, instead of slacking off. -- By the way, by the bye; -- used to introduce an incidental or secondary remark or subject. -Day by day, One by one, Piece by piece, etc., each day, each one, each piece, etc., by itself singly or separately; each severally. -- To come by, to get possession of; to obtain. -- To do by, to treat, to behave toward. -- To set by, to value, to esteem. -- To stand by, to aid, to support.
&hand; The common phrase good-by is equivalent to farewell, and would be better written good-bye, as it is a corruption of God be with you (b'w'ye).
By
By (?), adv. 1. Near; in the neighborhood; present; as, there was no person by at the time.
2. Passing near; going past; past; beyond; as, the procession has gone by; a bird flew by.
3. Aside; as, to lay by; to put by.
By
By (?), a. Out of the common path; aside; -- used in composition, giving the meaning of something aside, secondary, or incidental, or collateral matter, a thing private or avoiding notice; as, by-line, by-place, by-play, by-street. It was formerly more freely used in composition than it is now; as, by-business, by-concernment, by-design, by-interest, etc.
Byard
By"ard (?), n. A piece of leather crossing the breast, used by the men who drag sledges in coal mines.
By-bidder
By"-bid`der (?), n. One who bids at an auction in behalf of the auctioneer or owner, for the purpose of running up the price of articles. [U.S.]
By-blow
By"-blow` (?), n. 1. A side or incidental blow; an accidental blow.
With their by-blows they did split the very stones in pieces.
Bunyan.
2. An illegitimate child; a bastard.
The Aga speedily . . . brought her [his disgraced slave] to court, together with her pretty by-blow, the present Padre Ottomano.
Evelyn.
By-corner
By"-cor`ner (?), n. A private corner.
Britain being a by-corner, out of the road of the world.
Fuller.
By-dependence
By"-de*pend`ence (?), n. An appendage; that which depends on something else, or is distinct from the main dependence; an accessory.
Shak.
By-drinking
By"-drink`ing, n. A drinking between meals. [Obs.]
Bye
Bye (?), n. 1. A thing not directly aimed at; something which is a secondary object of regard; an object by the way, etc.; as in on or upon the bye, i.e., in passing; indirectly; by implication. [Obs. except in the phrase by the bye.]
The Synod of Dort condemneth upon the bye even the discipline of the Church of England.
Fuller.
2. (Cricket) A run made upon a missed ball; as, to steal a bye.
T. Hughes.
By the bye, in passing; by way of digression; apropos to the matter in hand. [Written also by the by.]
Bye
Bye (?) n. [AS.bbygbyggia, b, to dwell &root;97.]
1. A dwelling.
Gibson.
2. In certain games, a station or place of an individual player.
Emerson.
By-election
By"-e*lec"tion (?), n. An election held by itself, not at the time of a general election.
By-end
By"-end` (?), n. Private end or interest; secret purpose; selfish advantage. [Written also bye-end.]
"Profit or some other by-end."
L'Estrange.
Bygone
By"gone` (?), a. Past; gone by.
"Bygone fooleries."
Shak
Bygone
By"gone` (?), n. Something gone by or past; a past event.
"Let old bygones be"
Tennyson.
Let bygones be bygones, let the past be forgotten.
By-interest
By"-in`ter*est (?), n. Self-interest; private advantage.
Atterbury.
Byland
By"land (?), n. A peninsula. [Obs.]
Bylander
By"land*er (?), n. See Bilander.[Obs.]
^^By-lane
^^By"-lane` (?), n. A private lane, or one opening out of the usual road.
By-law
By"-law` (, n. [Cf.Sw.bylag, D.bylov, Icel.b, fr.Sw.& Dan. by town, Icel. b\'91r, byr (fr. b\'96a to dwell) + the word for law; hence, a law for one town, a special law. Cf.Birlaw and see Law.] 1. A local or subordinate law; a private law or regulation made by a corporation for its own government.
There was likewise a law to restrain the by-laws, or ordinances of corporations.
Bacon.
The law or institution; to which are added two by-laws, as a comment upon the general law.
Addison.
2. A law that is less important than a general law or constitutional provision, and subsidiary to it; a rule relating to a matter of detail; as, civic societies often adopt a constitution and by-laws for the government of their members. In this sense the word has probably been influenced by by, meaning secondary or aside.
By-name
By"-name` (?), n. A nickname.
Camden.
Byname
By"name`, v. t. To give a nickname to.
Camden.
By-pass
By"-pass (?), n. (Mech.) A by-passage, for a pipe, or other channel, to divert circulation from the usual course.
By-passage
By"-pas`sage (?), n. A passage different from the usual one; a byway.
By-past
By"-past (?), a. Past; gone by. "By-past perils."
Shak.
Bypath
By"path` (?), n.; pl. Bypaths( A private path; an obscure way; indirect means.
God known, my son,
By what bypaths, and indirect crooked ways,
I met this crown.
Shak.
By-place
By"-place` (, n. A retired or private place.
Byplay
By"play (?), n. Action carried on aside, and commonly in dumb show, while the main action proceeds.
By-product
By"-prod`uct (?), n. A secondary or additional product; something produced, as in the course of a manufacture, in addition to the principal product.
Byre
Byre (?), n. [Cf, Icel. b\'81r pantry, Sw. bur cage,Dan. buur, E.bower.] A cow house. [N. of Eng.& Scot.]
By-respect
By"-re*spect` (?), n. Private end or view; by-interest. [Obs.]
Dryden.
Byroad
By"road` (?), n. A private or obscure road. "Through slippery byroads"
Swift.
Byronic
By"ron`ic (?), a. Pertaining to, or in the style of, Lord Byron.
With despair and Byronic misanthropy.
Thackeray
By-room
By"-room` (?), n. A private room or apartment. "Stand in some by-room"
Shak.
Bysmottered
By"*smot`ter*ed (?), p.a. [See Besmut.] Bespotted with mud or dirt. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
By-speech
By"-speech`(, n. An incidental or casual speech, not directly relating to the point. "To quote by-speeches."
Hooker.
By-spell
By"-spell`(, n. [AS. bigspell.] A proverb. [Obs.]
Byss
Byss (?), n. See Byssus, n., 1.
Byssaceous
Bys*sa"ceous (?), a. [From Byssus.] (Bot.) Byssuslike; consisting of fine fibers or threads, as some very delicate filamentous alg\'91.
Byssiferous
Bys*sif"er*ous (?), a. [Byssus + -ferous.] Bearing a byssus or tuft.
Byssin
Bys"sin (?), n. See Byssus, n., 1.
Byssine
Bys"sine (?), a. [L. byssinus made of byssus, Gr.Byssus.] Made of silk; having a silky or flaxlike appearance.
Coles.
Byssoid
Bys"soid (?), a. [Byssus + -oid.] Byssaceous.
Byssolite
Bys"so*lite (?), n. [Gr.-lite.] (Min.) An olive-green fibrous variety of hornblende.
Byssus
Bys"sus (?), n.; pl. E. Byssuses(#); L. Byssi.(#) [L. byssus fine flax, fine linen or cotton, Gr.
1. A cloth of exceedingly fine texture, used by the ancients. It is disputed whether it was of cotton, linen, or silk. [Written also byss and byssin.]
2. (Zo\'94l.) A tuft of long, tough filaments which are formed in a groove of the foot, and issue from between the valves of certain bivalve mollusks, as the Pinna and Mytilus, by which they attach themselves to rocks, etc.
3. (Bot.) An obsolete name for certain fungi composed of slender threads.
4. Asbestus.
Bystander
By"stand`er (?), n. [By + stander, equiv. to stander-by; cf. AS. big-standan to stand by or near.] One who stands near; a spectator; one who has no concern with the business transacting.
He addressed the bystanders and scattered pamphlets among them.
Palfrey.
Syn. -- Looker on; spectator; beholder; observer.
By-street
By"-street` (?), n. A separate, private, or obscure street; an out of the way or cross street.
He seeks by-streets, and saves the expensive coach.
Gay.
By-stroke
By"-stroke` (?), n. An accidental or a slyly given stroke.
By-turning
By"-turn`ing (?), n. An obscure road; a way turning from the main road.
Sir P. Sidney.
By-view
By"-view`(, n. A private or selfish view; self-interested aim or purpose.
No by-views of his own shall mislead him.
Atterbury.
By-walk
By"-walk`(, n. secluded or private walk.
He moves afterward in by-walks.
Dryden.
By-wash
By"-wash` (?), n. The outlet from a dam or reservoir; also, a cut to divert the flow of water.
Byway
By"way` (?), n. A secluded, private, or obscure way; a path or road aside from the main one. " Take no byways."
Herbert.
By-wipe
By"-wipe` (?), n. A secret or side stroke, as of raillery or sarcasm.
Milton.
Byword
By"word` (?), n. [AS.b\'8bword; b\'8b, E.by+word.] 1. A common saying; a proverb; a saying that has a general currency.
I knew a wise man that had it for a byword.
Bacon.
2. The object of a contemptuous saying.
Thou makest us a byword among the heathen.
Ps. xliv. 14
Bywork
By"work (?), n. Work aside from regular work; subordinate or secondary business.
Byzant, Byzantine
Byz"ant (?), Byz"an*tine (?) n.[OE. besant, besaunt, F. besant, fr. LL. Byzantius, Byzantinus, fr. Byzantium.] (Numis.) A gold coin, so called from being coined at Byzantium. See Bezant.
Bizantian
Bi*zan"tian (?), a.& n. See Byzantine.
Byzantine
By*zan"tine (?), a. Of or pertaining to Byzantium. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Byzantium, now Constantinople; sometimes, applied to an inhabitant of the modern city of Constantinople. [ Written also Bizantine.]
Byzantine church, the Eastern or Greek church, as distinguished from the Western or Roman or Latin church.See under Greek. -- Byzantine empire, the Eastern Roman or Greek empire from A.D. 364 or A.D. 395 to the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, A.D. 1453. -- Byzantine historians, historians and writers (Zonaras, Procopius, etc.) who lived in the Byzantine empire. P. Cyc.
Byzantine style (Arch.), a style of architecture developed in the Byzantine empire. Its leading forms are the round arch, the dome, the pillar, the circle, and the cross. The capitals of the pillars are the endless variety, and full of invention. The mosque of St. Sophia, Constantinople, and the church of St. Mark, Venice, are prominent examples of Byzantine architecture.
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